The Call Server

The core component of a CS1000E is the Call Server. There are three types of call servers that are supported – the CP PII, the CP PIV, and the CP PM. The CP PII is a legacy system that is no longer available. It was a separate system that was rack-mountable and used a Pentium II processor. The CP PIV uses a Pentium M processor and is also a rack-mountable. The CP PM is a slot-based board that can be used as a Call Server or a Signaling Server. This is the type of system that I will focus on, as most new installations use the CP PM style of call processor, and the CP PM board can also be used as a Signaling Server.

The CP PM Call Server can reside in slots 1-4 of the MG1000E Chassis. Slot 0 is reserved for the Media Gateway Controller (MGC) card. When used as a call server the CP PM system has a 1 GB onboard Compact Flash (CF) card for operating software, and ships with 512 MB of DDR RAM (expandable up to 2 GB). There is a Compact Flash slot on the front of the system that is used for software loading and backups. The CP PM Call Server is also generally shipped with a 512 MB CF Card containing the installation media and keycodes. Additionally, a 128 MB CF Card is shipped for software backups. There is a switch on the board, known as switch 5, which needs to be in position 1 to designate that the CP PM system should boot from the onboard CF card. In addition the Call Server must also have a Large System Security Device (Part # NTDK57AAE5). This looks like a large cell battery and is also known as a security dongle. This device is used to indicate to the operating system which software packages and resources are available.

The CP PM Call Server connects to the Media Gateway Controller using Ethernet. As such, the only backplane connectivity that is required for operation is power and Slot ID. There are three Ethernet ports on the CP PM system, so it is important to remember which one is used for what purpose. The CP PM Call Server must be connected through the ELAN port on the CP PM system to the MGC. This can either be a direct connection or through a QoS-enabled Layer 2 Switch. Nortel recommends the use of a Layer 2 switch. For ease of cabling it is recommended to put the CP PM Call Server in Slot 1. In addition, a redundant system will use the HSP Port to connect to a secondary call server. This is done either through a direct connection between the two call servers or through a High Speed WAN link from one site to another, in the case of campus redundancy.

There is a main status LED on the CP PM Call Server that indicates the current system status. It can be one of three colors, Red, Yellow, and Green. Additionally it can be blinking or solid, or even off. If the Status LED is red it means that the system is on the Hardware/BIOS level. Once it starts loading the Bootrom and OS it starts flashing red. The light will go yellow as the system starts the first Sysload phase, and flashes yellow during the second Sysload phase. Once the operating software has been loaded and the system is operating normally the light will be a solid green. During the installation process the main status LED will flash green. If the light is off this indicates that there is no power.

In addition to the main status LED there are three additional LEDs that are of importance. The first one is the redundancy LED. The same color options exist here. A red light indicates that there is no redundancy (single mode). A green light means that the system is in a redundant mode and is active. A yellow light indicates that the system is the standby redundancy system. A flashing red or yellow light indicates that the system is in split mode. There are also activity lights for the internal FMD and the external RMD. These lights will flash green when there is activity on these devices.

Finally, there are two push buttons on the faceplate. There is a RST button that is inset into the case (it requires the use of something to depress the button). The RST button will perform a Sysload. There is also a button labeled INI that will re-initialize the CP PM system.

There are two serial ports on the CP PM systems that are available through an MDF connector on the backplane of the MG1000E system. These ports are SDI0 and SDI1. (SDI stands for Serial Data Interface). The default settings for these ports are 9600/8/N/1 with no parity of flow control. Port 0 is used for software installation and maintenance. SDI1 is used for modem/PC access to the operating software. If you are connecting SDI1 to a PC you must use a Modem Eliminator (Null Modem) to connect.

Finally, I would like to briefly mention the keycode. Every CP PM system must have a keycode file to install the software. The keycode file lets the system know what software features are available for use. At a very minimum there are certain packages that MUST be enabled for the system to work. These are:

368 CPP_CNI CP Pentium Backplane for Intel Machine
402
SOFT_SWITCH
403 IPMG

In addition a Branch Office system must have

390 SBO Branch Office

And a High Availability system must have

410 HIGH_AVAIL High Availability.